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| Actors Jung Hae-in, Jisoo, and director Jo Hyun-tak pose for pictures during the media conference for JTBC's new series, 'Snowdrop,' Friday. Courtesy of JTBC |
By Lee Gyu-lee
JTBC's new series, "Snowdrop," which was embroiled in a controversy over distorting history since before it even aired, has stirred up a further backlash, with viewers accusing the series of distorting the history of Korea's pro-democracy movement.
Since it premiered on Saturday, the romance series, set in 1987 amid the period of political unrest, has faced growing calls for its cancellation, with some of the companies dropping their sponsorship of the show.
The series, starring K-pop star Jisoo of BLACKPINK and actor Jung Hae-in, follows a romance between a first-year student at a women's university, Eun Young-ro (Jisoo), and a North Korean spy, Lim Soo-ho (Jung), who is hiding his identity under the cover of being a graduate student. One day, Soo-ho jumps into her dormitory covered in blood. Mistaking him as a pro-democracy protester against the military dictatorship, Young-ro tends to his injuries, despite the dangerous situation and develops romantic feelings for him.
On Sunday, an online petition was submitted on the Cheong Wa Dae website, calling for the network to stop the series from being aired. It garnered over 267,000 signatures in one day.
The petitioner pointed out that the series has diminished the history of the pro-democracy movement in the country by portraying a North Korean spy as a protestor.
"It is a historical fact that protestors in the democracy movement were tortured and killed, being falsely accused as spies. Yet despite this history, the fact that the series has such a plot is distorting the value of the pro-democracy movement," the petitioner wrote.
"Korea is a democracy, which is something that has been earned through hard work and through the pain and sacrifice of many innocent people… as the influence of Korean culture has been growing more recently, it is time to reconsider the weight of distorting history in the media."
It added that, as the series is also streaming globally on Disney+, it might convey a wrongheaded idea of Korean history to viewers overseas.
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| A scene from the series / Courtesy of JTBC |
The series first came under fire in March after its plot and characters' descriptions were leaked. People claimed that the plot glamorizes the North Korean spy and the state intelligence agency, which is accused of having abused its power to suppress political dissidents and pro-democracy activists under infamous dictator Chun Doo-hwan's military regime in the 1980s.
Some have said that having the main character be a spy disguised as a pro-democracy activist misleadingly implies North Korea's involvement in the 1980 Gwangju Uprising, which was a claim of Chun to defend his government's brutal suppression of the movement.
Some pointed out that the female lead character's name initially, "Eun Young-cho," resembled that of the symbolic figure, pro-democracy activist Chun Young-cho, who was imprisoned and tortured and whose husband was tortured resulting in his death after having been falsely accused of being a spy.
When these criticisms of the show went viral, the network released a statement, saying that it has no intention of distorting the history of the pro-democracy movement and will change the name of the lead character to "Young-ro."
In the recent media conference for the series, held on Friday, the series' director, Jo Hyun-tak, dismissed these concerns, emphasizing that the series tells a fictional story.
"Although it is set in 1987, everything in the series, such as the characters and agency, and except for the situation of the military regime and the presidential election, is fictionally created," he said, adding that the plot that was leaked earlier doesn't represent the series' actual plot. "The writer has worked on the series with a sense of responsibility and accountability so it will not have these things that people are worried about. I hope they watch it for themselves."
However, despite his reassurance, when the first episode aired, many expressed disbelief about the fact that the series does follow a controversial storyline, criticizing the director's claim that the show is purely fictional.
As the calls for the series' to be pulled from airing grow, the series' sponsors, such as P&J Group and fashion brand Ganisong, are withdrawing sponsorship.
"We express our apologies to anyone who was hurt by the distortion of history. Our company was not informed of the script or show's synopsis when we were offered to sponsor it," Ganisong said. "We have asked for our brand's name to be taken out of the series. As the series has been filmed already, we can't completely stop them from showing our brand, but we will try our best."
